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A VISION OF EMPOWERMENT A FRAMEWORK OF SUPPORT CONSULTATION PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM AIMS OF THE PROGRAM SUPPORT FOR THE PROGRAM STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM |
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BECOMING A SELF ADVOCATE
TRAINING KIT
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A VISION OF EMPOWERMENT A FRAMEWORK OF SUPPORT CONSULTATION PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM AIMS OF THE PROGRAM SUPPORT FOR THE PROGRAM STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM |
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The Becoming A Self Advocate Training Program is a curriculum resource for staff assisting people with intellectual disability to develop Self Advocacy skills. It is aimed directly at staff working with people with intellectual disability in an Adult Training and Support Service environment.
Features:
This program is designed to support the development of Client Council / Consumer Committees within ATSS's, but does not assume that every ATSS client will become involved in such groups. However, this program does assume that the skills of self advocacy are important for everyone to develop, and that the journey towards empowerment can even be fun!
The Becoming a Self Advocate training kit was developed in response to the increased demands by the clients of Adult Training Support Services to have a greater say in their everyday lives and in the management of their services
For the past four decades, A.T.S.S.s in Victoria have been generally at the forefront of change and progress on the intellectual disability scene. They have been responding to the needs of people with intellectual disability, opening doors into the community and supporting them to take their rightful place in the world. Many A.T.S.S.s have also taken a positive role in supporting the advocacy movement, by both championing the rights of people with intellectual disability and by assisting their clients to grow stronger and more effective as their own `self advocates'
The A.T.S.S. sector - comprising 140 services and approximately 4000 clients - has been generally keen to respond to the strengthening voice of their consumers. As a consequence, many agencies have been developing and supporting self advocacy programs and structures for several years
Nonetheless, it has not been uncommon to hear concerns about self advocacy only being appropriate for `some consumers', or of clients being placed on committees with little understanding of the issues under discussion, or of the views of clients being manipulated by those who support them. It is not uncommon to hear it said of self advocacy that, `oh yes, we tried that but it failed'
As Victoria's peak advocacy support agency for adults with intellectual disability, VALID is equally concerned about failure. We believe that it usually happens to people with intellectual disability when there is inadequate planning, insufficient support and unrealistic expectations. We also believe that the skills of self advocacy should be thought of as skills, like any other - for instance, the same as the skills of crossing a road, going to the supermarket, or catching a tram.
Most A.T.S.S. instructors know exactly how to go about supporting a person with intellectual disability to gain these skills, applying the techniques of task analysis, positive goal-setting and reinforcement. Most A.T.S.S. instructors also understand that the most important objective of all is the empowering of their clients to take control of their own lives and decisions. Sometimes, however, they struggle with how best to conceptualise and then teach these skills. Usually, there isn't a lot of time to stand back and objectively analyse self advocacy, much less prepare detailed lesson plans and activities to methodically guide their clients towards `empowerment'
This is reflected in the fact that few A.T.S.S. clients have Individual Program Plans which specifically make mention of the need to develop the skills which make up self advocacy, such as assertiveness, choice and decision-making, expressing opinions, etc
Hence, Becoming a Self Advocate. This manual provides staff and management in A.T.S.S.s with the necessary concepts, strategies and activities to effectively develop the self advocacy skills of individuals and to support the emerging voice of consumers within their agencies
The need for services to provide strategies to effectively support consumer participation has been recently highlighted by the A.T.S.S.
Consumer Satisfaction Survey, which sampled the views and concerns of A.T.S.S. clients. Whilst yielding positive satisfaction indicators, many consumers indicated that they did not know enough about self advocacy and wanted to have more say in the decision-making processes of their organisations.
VALID strongly supports the right of people with intellectual disability to have a greater say in the way services are delivered. It is our experience that most A.T.S.S. communities are just as strong in this commitment
VALID's work with A.T.S.S.s has therefore been very much one of partnership, with our staff and the staff of A.T.S.S.s cooperating to discoverthe most meaningful and effective strategies for achieving our commonmission - the empowerment of people with intellectual disability
VALID is committed to establishing an advocacy framework which supports people with intellectual disability and families/carers to take control of their lives, their services, of their position in the communityand of their place in the world
VALID believes that such a framework needs to be in place, providing support from the personal to the global levels, if the rights, interests andviews of people with intellectual disability, families and carers are everto be effectively realised and responded to
For instance, an Australia-wide organisation such as the National Council on Intellectual Disability cannot be effective unless it has effective state structures supporting it and representing it; a statewide advocacy organisation such as VALID cannot be effective unless it has regional and national structures supporting it and representing it; regional advocacy groups cannot be effective unless they have local and service agency-related groups supporting them, as well as statewide groups representing and supporting them.
In the same way, a person with intellectual disability or a cannot be a fully effective advocate at the regional or statewide levels unless their own personal advocacy skills - their understanding of services and systems, their awareness of rights, and their ability to assert- themselves effectively - are sufficiently supported and developed
Moreover, people participating in the regional and statewide advocacy agenda cannot be fully effective until they have developed beyond afocus on their own personal plight, and are capable of representing the`bigger picture'
A strong and substantial advocacy support structure is required to represent, assist, train and empower people involved at every level. The Becoming a Self Advocate Training Program is designed to support this structure by focusing on the development of the Personal and Service-
The research for Becoming a Self Advocate involved extensive consultationwith both clients and service providers over a period of 12 months. Initially, meetings were held with A.T.S.S. staff to determine the need for this type of resource and what type of material may be required. Consequently a draft was developed which VALID staff trialed with four different agencies over a period of Cr 11 months. The agencies were EDAR - Naroo Learning Centre, Gawith Villa A.T.S.S., WATCH A.T.S.S. and Nunawading A.T.S.S. Further independent trials took place with two A.T.S.S.s utilizing existing staff facilitators - Corilong FEAT and EDAR - Rochester Further Education Service
Evaluation and feedback from these trials yielded useful information which was added to the document. Consultation with clients occurred both in the A.T.S.S. trial groups through discussion and evaluation as well as consultation with the members of the VALID Self Advocacy Sub-Committee
The purpose of this program is to provide a curriculum for staff working in the intellectual disability field, particularly A.T.S.S. instructors, who are teaching self advocacy skills. Each session has been specifically designed to meet the diverse learning needs of people with intellectual disability in a small group situation. Whilst participants are required to possess fundamental communication skills, the program provides a comprehensive framework within which the creative instructor may alter and adapt activities to match particular communication requirements and levels of understanding
The document has been developed with staff time constraints in mind and is therefore designed as a resource which can be drawn from with minimal preparation requirements
Sessions 1-18
Aim to provide strategies for developing the individual's:
Sessions 19 and 20
Are optional sessions for participants who indicate a wish to become involved in an
A.T.S.S. Client Council or Consumer Committee (also known in some agencies as a Workers'
Committee)
These sessions aim to provide strategies for developing the individual's:
The program provides information for 20 two-hour sessions. These session times can be modified according to the group and time constraints. The sessions run in developmental sequence and are ideally delivered in this way. However a selection of sessions may be taught in isolation if deemed more appropriate. Some people may benefit from repetition of some sessions. The sessions are essentially discussion based and therefore the number of participants should preferably be kept between six to ten. The sessions feature:
An important feature of the Work Plan is the Review and `Check-Point' strategies, designed to constantly reinforce learning and understanding
Script Notes
Direct information is provided to guide the facilitator through each session as smoothly as possible. The activities include regular scripting to the facilitator, to suggest and to demonstrate how an idea may be expressed. These script notes are always in italics, and can be modified according to interests and needs
Videos
Extensive use is made of several videos throughout the program. It is essential that facilitators obtain and familiarize themselves with these materials before commencing the particular session.
Work Sheets
Work Sheets are provided to deal with specific topics or techniques.
Group Posters
Participants are required to make posters throughout the program, providing a practical and fun activity which builds the skills of cooperative decision-making and `working together'. This can be a very effective teaching tool especially for people with higher support needs. Place the posters that are developed in a prominent position to proudly display the group's progress
Group Booklet
At the conclusion of each session information is added to the group's own 'Becoming a Self Advocate' booklet. This booklet is designed to provide participants with a reference book of their own for future use. It is intended to reinforce the concepts discussed and provide participants with a resource they can independently access. If your group members would like their own copy, you will need to ensure each participant has a manila folder with proper binding attachments or similar
Assessment Checklists
Checklists are regularly provided throughout the program. Copy the checklists to monitor the progress of each individual
VALID has produced this program as a resource to be used primarily in the A.T.S.S. environment. All Sessions are ideally facilitated by a support worker independent of the A.T.S.S. agency, to minimize the potential for conflict of interest to arise
However, given the fact that it's often difficult to fund and/or find independent facilitation, and the fact that much of the content of Becoming a Self Advocate is very much part of the empowering mission of the modern A.T.S.S., it is likely that many A.T.S.S. instructors will be called upon to deliver this program. Where this occurs, VALID urges agencies to allow their staff to undertake appropriate staff training before commencing the program. One of the options for appropriate training is offered by Box Hill Institute of T.A.F.E. through its ‘Client Empowerment program', a two day in-service activity for which staff release time can be negotiated. Other options may be also available, either through private consultancies or advocacy organisations
Provided A.T.S.S. staff undertake such training, VALID considers it is entirely appropriate for Sessions 1-18 of Becoming a Self Advocate to be delivered as part of the typical A.T.S.S. program, as these sessions cover concepts and skills which are the common interest of both A.T.S.S. and advocacy agencies. Where the potential for conflict of interest arises is at the point when consumers or clients begin to meet not for the purposes of training, but for the purposes of speaking independently and perhaps critically about the processes and practices of the A.T.S.S. agency. It is at this point that the need for strictly independent facilitation is demanded, to avoid any suggestion of the instructor manipulating client opinions to ‘have a go' at management, and to allow consumers every opportunity to speak freely about issues affecting them. In this program, we have identified this critical ‘point of departure' in Sessions 19 ‘Running your own meetings' and Session 20 ‘Running your own Client Council'. These Sessions also suggest a movement away from the previous ‘instructor/client' delivery style towards a proper meeting format, where consumers ‘control' and support workers `support'
Agencies wishing to ensure independent facilitation for consumers embarking on Sessions 19 and 20 - and on the journey beyond these sessions - can contact VALID or other Statewide, regional or local advocacy organisations for information, advice and, hopefully, support
VALID: Phone 03 9416 4003 Facsimile 03 9416 0850 Freecall 1800 65 5570